Henney announces re-election bid

Councilman vows to keep community first

Tim Henney announced Wednesday he will file to run for a second term on the Park City Council as soon as the official filing window opens June 1.

"I love being on council; I love having the vote by being on council, and I love the level of engagement it brings me," he said.

The 25-year Park City resident stated his platform will be "Community First," a re-pledge to make decisions through the lens of whether a proposed action benefits or harms the citizens of Park City.

"We have numerous free-market forces creating big challenges and pressures on us, and some of those entities-driven-free-market forces want to come in and dictate to us the terms of negotiation and engagement, and I absolutely will not let that happen," he said.

According to Henney, some of that pressure is coming from national brands seeking a presence in Park City's commercial district.

"It's my belief they are here because of the authentic and special nature and soul of our community," he said. "If they're going to become a part of the community, they're going to have to do it on the community's terms. And they can decide whether they want to be here or not."

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Henney was born in New York City and lived in the New Jersey/New York region growing up. He graduated from Northwestern University in 1980 and worked on Wall Street for 12 years. Since arriving in 1992, Henney has served on numerous non-profit boards and as a volunteer for groups advocating for trails, open space, education, and a more walkable community. He is also a co-host of the weekly KPCW program, The Mountain Life.

Henney says his history with the town and his commitment to prioritizing citizens over free-market forces will define his campaign. His understanding of what incoming developers and large businesses prioritize is an asset he brings to the board.

As an example, he said that several years ago, City Manager Diane Foster asked the council to refine the city's list of priorities, and the council listed transportation and affordable housing as being the most critical. Energy conservation was later added as a third.

"What I brought to [the council] was a reframe of how we use those priorities and how we think about them," Henney said. "I broadened the conversation to think about them as organizing principles.

"That really worked for members of the community, the city staff, and council members. It got citizens to rally around something and understand what their government was up to."

He said he's felt a shift in community outlook when it comes to needs.

"Over the last 30 years, we have put a lot of effort, time and resources promoting and supporting the business side of our community," he said. "We're refocusing resources and energy back on the [public] itself and making that part of the community a priority – without being detrimental to the businesses."

Henney is looking forward to the city moving more and more from studying issues and policies to implementing programs. Affordable housing construction on Park Avenue, electric buses, and parking programs are among the projects he wants to see come to fruition.

"We're done with the studying and the consulting phase and we've entered into an implementation phase," he said.

"It's been an amazing experience for me over the last four years," he said. "Things are really starting to happen… The next four years are going to be very exciting for the community, and I hope to be a part of it as part of the city council."